(PbP) Crew Creation

As discussed previously here, Triumph & Despair will be hosting a play-by-post campaign to help illustrate how the Edge of the Empire rules work with the suggestions presented on this blog, as well as serve as an example of an impromptu Star Wars campaign unfolding before everyone’s eyes.

The players will be using our new public Google+ Community (linked here) to construct their Crew Members, their relationships to one another and towards non-player characters, and to construct their shared starship. The tone of the campaign, the types of Heists they will be interested in, and the seeds of development will be set forth right here. While the the Crew could use the convenience of emails to do this work, the Galaxy Master demands that they use this public venue so as to give any onlookers some insight into the creative process behind character creation. I want to show you “how the sausage is made”. The players have been asked to have ship and crew creation completed by Friday February 1st, 2013.

For the Crew, begin by examining the ten (10) step character creation guidelines found in the Edge of the Empire Beta (p.27) and Final Week Beta Update.

Determine Concept and Background.

Determine Starting Obligation. For six Crew, each Member starts with a baseline of 5 Obligation. An additional 5 Experience Points or 1,000 Credits can be gained here at the cost of 5 Obligation. The Galaxy Master does not allow any further Obligation gains at campaign start.

Select Species.

Select Career.

Select Specialization.

Invest Experience Points. It is strongly recommended that as many experience points as possible are spent on improving characteristics at campaign start, with any remainder spent on purchasing skill ranks.

Determine Derived Stats.

Determine Starting Motivations. See also D is for Destiny.

Starting Gear and Finishing Touches.

Group Selects Ship.

Special

As a Galaxy Master, I demand unparalleled excellence from my Crew and impose these three (3) additional details to be created by each Crew Member.

The group as a whole will have an additional 10 Obligation that is a burden shared by all, perhaps acting as an element that binds the Crew together or partially explains their starting background.

Each Crew Member creates one (1) positive relationship or link with another Crew Member and one (1) point of tension of conflict with another Crew Member. These links need not be overt and the Crew Members may be unaware of them, despite the players’ and audience’s knowledge.

Each Crew Member creates one (1) star system that they are intimately familiar with through their backstory, and determines if it is a Core World or in the Outer Rim.

6 responses to “(PbP) Crew Creation”

I like the idea of the ship having obligation and plan to use it in my game. But I have one question for you: Do you plan to just say the ship has 10 obligation? Or….the mathematically awesome: Your ship has 10 ________ obligation? So many options!!!

Debt: The ship is new and as a result money is owed to someone. Not your parents though. They learned that you were a dead beat years ago…

Debt: The ship is old and in constant need of repairs.

Family: The ship belongs to your uncle who is a textile merchant. From time to time you need to do your job (which is not exploring the galaxy) and deliver crates of boring textiles to boring textile worlds (or are they boring?)

Bounty: Simply put, you’re shifty. That vessel is not yours and the owner wants it back.

etc. etc.

These of course could also be tied into the personal obligation of whomever decides they own the ship (because not all ships are collectively owned) I suppose. But I think that if you’re going to give the ship some obligation, you might as well make it interesting.

Also, I’m a fan of making players create (even if it is just in name only, with a few descriptor/background tags) one character whom the players character is friends with or an ally of, as well as, one character whom the players character is enemies with or a rival of.

Not only does this give your player an additional connection to the galaxy, it provides plot hooks or random encounters.

Thanks again for the warm comments! I’ve done campaigns starting with a villain and ally to each PC and, yes, it works well. PErhaps we’re both referencing the same material; ChattyDM’s Party Creation Template? Anyway, that portion of character development I want to try this go around using the 3-step character development arc “Introduction” phase as well as the fun rolls from K is for Knowledge.

? Interesting…I have not seen that blog. I don’t remember if I came up with the idea for that on my own, or if I found it on Gnome Stew or if it was referenced when I was bored and reading the old weg d6 game master guide (if it was even called that, I don’t recall). Either way, it found its way into my bag of tricks and has proven useful ever since.

Thanks, my google-fu was all over that when I didn’t recognize the name. I like the relationship links (which I noticed that you used as well for your pbp game). My last group only had 2 pcs, they usually met randomly (or had known each other for a while) at the beginning of the game and developed a relationship from that point. But I will try to work that in on my next game. Drama is good.